Curtain bracket



July 27 1926.

- E. A. VETTER CURTAIN BRACKET FiledNov. 21, 1925 fltbozmugm Patented Juiy E?,

nnnnnnrmr A. vETTER; .or Rioni/ioni), vincrura; Assicuonr'ofenn raeTUnING co., .or nicniuoivn, viitcruija, A Coenen-Arion" o"F CURTAIN Application led November This invention relates to curtain attaehments'vjforautomobiles, and particularly to improved means iorfapplying; said curtains togthedoo'rs of. automobilesso that the curtainsfw'ill follow-"said door in the openingandclosing `movenientsuthereof, even when said `'dooislare pivotally mounted on a nonverti'ealaxis.

y-It isvold. in thevart to mount .curtains to extendabo've the swingingv doors oflangautoniobile.'v so* that said vcurtains will yfollow thedoor 'as pivots .around its hinges,;there by permi ttingrunobstructed'. egress or` ingress for ipassetigers.-` VVhen"` the doors ofthe automobile are mounted onhinges .which yare ini straight verticalalignment, the opening' pivotal-'movement of:r the dooreauses itto extend laterallyof and at an angleto the bodyoffthe car, thercurtain merely bending' upon itself along a vertical line drawn through the axis of the aligned hingesysii'ice, undersuchf:circumstances` there is no strain upon thetabricfoii the curtain.

Upon' vcer-tainautomobiles; oit' the present day, *the` doorsthereofv are pivotally` mountel-iuponiflhinges which-.are notA in` exact verticali alignment, the lower ,hinge being' posi'- `tit'nied-l"at. one' side'oi a vertical linedrawn through thecentenV of: the top hinge. Inmost case'ss'uch structurehis causedby the provisionl ofa-nf' inwardly curved body, thecurve beginningbelow theupperdoor hinge, the resultbeingA that the lower hinge is set in wardly 'wit-h frespeet to. the upper.` hinge. Since' the `toplf the door at all' times rforms the same angle witli:.tl1e'.line oi the two hi-'Iig's tllier'eof, it is. obvious that, in doors so mounted,-Whenthe door is fully opened, the! outereornery thereof is lower 'than the corner adjacent the ear,` and that said outer corner, moving outwardly and downwardly, cornes-' toirestfat afpoint which is further -alw'ay frfomf the bow-foi1 the `ear than .would be *'the; caseif the'hinges were positioned in vertical; alignment. `.Since it is also true that,in`cases"of certain cars the stationary portion of the curtain` is a'liiXed-to the body of ftheau'tomdbile adjacent to the door, and

eX-tendfslupwardly and 'is secured to the side bowinnd'er'ithe ltop, it `follows that the curtain structures at presentin use. wouldv be rupturedlbyopeninp; I the door. inthe.4 absencef oif'iany-preventative curtainand door connecting devices:

Itlis therefore-the object loit'wthe present les.

veel MAN-U- naam-Af BRACKET.

21,1923, seriarNo. 70,562'.

invention to provide' fio-operating( `curtain-y supporting means carried by the swing-ing door, and supported by the lbraces eithe autom0bile,' which meansfare operative to permit, 4free swinging` movement f of the cur-V tainwhen mounted oni doors hingedyon either a vertical orxjnon-verticalaxis, said means `being automatically `operable to' pre'v vent rupture of 'the curtain fabric" even though the door isihinged4 on anon-vertical axis. f

`Qther. .objects of f the invention willV be made apparent in thefaecompanying specification, when read in connection withl the .drawings forming@A a 1 part thereof.

' In said1 drawings v fFigal is a` fragmentary perspective view of an,` automobile equipped with 'my invenL tion; looking' through the car', andi showing theeurtai'ns applied to the" righthandf' side. r Fig, isa fragmentary detailed perspective View 'showing portionso-the cosoperating` curtain-suppor-ting4 elements. l

.lig. S'is a cross-section on the line 3+?) of Fig. Land,y

Fig.` 4: is a` detailed view show i-ngin `full lines the position,y ofV an opened: door mounted on non-.vertically aligned-fA hinges, Y. and-, in

idottedLline's,th e position ofl'an opene'dqdoor mounted on vertically-aligned hinges. f Now. referring;speciiicallygtofthe drawinps,ink whichsimilarl reference numerals indicate like parts@throughout'y the several views, A :indicates the. body of an automobile equipped withI frontpdoors B; and rear kdoors C, as shown ingFig'fl [Thfe customary topf l is mounted ,upon bowsV 2 which extend acrossytheixcar, and; .the presentinvention .contemplates means for properly securing a ourtain to jthe rear -doors4` C .carried `by the body A. lnfmygcompanion application liled of even date herewith, I disclose means for applying. frontl curtains to the front doors B.

In. order to better disclose the invention Fig. 1 shows an automobile iii-which the cur- `talnson the leitet the car have been removedjbut the curtains on the rightv are in position. In' the present drawings the invention is shown 4applied to a earl of the Ford typebut it isiiobvious that the invention is equallyapplicable toany make of car.v

Certain cars; areprovidedwith,an aper- .turedsock'et ,extendingfdownwardly through .the top surface ofthe .door adjacent the edge remote from the hinges, said socket being adapted to receive a vertically extending rod secured to the curtain, whereby the secured edge of the curtain will swing outwardly when the door is opened. In cars not equipped with such a socket I provide a socketed bracket 4 which is adapted to be easily secured to said door, and to receive and firmly retain the lower end of said rod, as clearly shown in my said companion application heretofore referred to.

The rod 5 above referred to, is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the top of said rod entering a socket formed in a plate 6, secured to the curtain 3, and pro vided with an ear 7 to which is rigidly connected a rod-arm 8. The top of the curtain 3 is made of two-ply material, and slits are provided therein to permit of the reception of the arm 8, as illustrated in said Figs. 1 and 2. In cars of the Ford type a flat brace iron 9 is pivotally carried between adjacent bows 2, 2, and I'provide a flat metal clip member 10, carrying a hooked portion 11 adapted to fit over said iron 9, as shown in Fig. 2." The body of the member 10 is rigidly secured to the fabric, of the curtain 3, by staples or clips 12 extending through the fabric and said body, the top clip being provided on its face with a curtain-fastener element 13 adapted to co-operate with a complementary element 14 carried on a flap 15 of said curtain, adjacent the point of attachment of the member 10 to the latter. It is to be noted that, when the elements 13 and 14 are out of co-operative engagement, a slit 16 is formed in the top of the curtain adjacent the member 10, which slit is effectually closed by securing said elements each to each.

The. lower portion of said member 10 is provided with a laterally extending flange 17 apertured to receive the hooked end of the arm 8, said arm being provided at its extreme end with a flattened head 18 permitting free pivotal and tilting movement of the arm 8 with respect to the flange 17, when the elements 13 and 14 are disengaged. It is obvious that, in the structure described, the curtain is secured to the member 10 which fits over the iron 9 to support the curtain.

In the structure as described, if the door C- is mounted on hinges positioned in vertical alignment, the elements 13 and 14 may remain in co-operative engagement, since point fr of the door will swing inwardly and outwardly and always remain at the same distance from the head 18 of the arm 8, the curtain bending upon itself without danger of rupture. If the door is not mounted on hinges in vertical alignment however, but is mounted as shown in full lines in Fig. 4, the point a' will swing outwardly and .also drop downwardly, moving a greater distance away from the point 18, thereby causing a strain upon the flap 15, if the fasteners 13 and 14 are engaged. If said fasteners are not engaged however the curtain will flex around the point 16', which may be properly reinforced, the hooked end of the arm 8 pivoting and tilting in the aperture in the flange 17. It will therefore be understood that the flap 15 is always pulled to disengage the elements 13 and 14, before the door C is opened.

From the foregoing it will be evident that I have provided a structure which, while not interfering with the operation of curtains carried by doors of the ordinary type, will prevent rupture of curtains carried on doors pivotally mounted on hinges positioned in non-vertical alignment. In some cases the curtains are applied to the right hand doors only, and stationary curtains are mounted upon the doors at the left of the car. While I have here described the invention as applied to cars of the Ford type, it is obvious that they are equally applicablel to cars of any and all types.

Modifications of the structure herein illustrated will be suggested to those skilled in the art, but my invention covers all modifications falling fairly within the scope of the appended claims.

1. Means for mounting curtains on swinging doors of automobiles, comprising a rod secured to the door and extending upwardly in substantial parallelism therewith, a curtain having one side edge secured to said rod, a clip member secured to said curtain near its other side edge, said clip being provided at its top with a hooked portion adapted to extend over one of the bow braces of the automobile, and at its bottom with a laterally extending flange and an arm secured at one end to the top of said rod and connected to the top edge of said curtain, the other end of said arm being pivotally connected to said flange. v

Q. Means for mounting curtains on swinging doors of automobiles, comprising a rod secured to the door and extending upwardly1 in substantial parallelism therewith, a curtain having one side edge secured to said rod, a clip member secured to said curtain near its other side edge and being provided at its top with a hooked portion adapted to extend over one of the bow braces of the automobile, and at its bottom with a laterally extending flange and an arm secured at one end to the top of said rod and connected to the top edge of said curtain, the other end of said arm being pivotally and tiltablv connected to said flange.

3. Means for mounting curtains on automobile doors carried on hinges positioned in non-vertical alignment comprising a rod secured to the door and connected to one side edge of the curtain, a clip member secured adjacent the top of the curtain and near the other side edge thereof, said clip being provided at its top with a hooked portion eX- tending,` over one of the bow braces of the automobile, a laterally extending flange carried by the bottom portion of said clip member, an arm secured at one end to the upper portion of said rod, and tiltably connected at its other end to said flange, and a slit 10 formed in the top edge oi' Said curtain adjacent said member, substantially as described.

In testimony7 whereof I aiiX my signature.

EBERHARDT V. VETTER. 

